Nielsen: US Smartphone App Popularity Rising Fast

Nielsen has spilled some interesting statistics on smartphone app usage, in its Appnation report which compares the state of the app market in 2012 to 2011.

Last year, less than 40 per cent of mobile owners in the US had a smartphone. That has now risen to 50 per cent, and is continuing to grow.

Unsurprisingly, more apps are being downloaded as a result, but the average number of apps on an American smartphone has jumped considerably too. It's up from 32 apps in 2011, to 41 apps this year, an increase of 28 per cent.

Smartphone addicts are also spending more time using apps in comparison to mobile web browsing, with 81 per cent of time spent on apps, and just 19 per cent on the web. Last year, 73 per cent of time was spent on apps.

The percentage of app downloaders who use Android and iOS phones is up considerably as well, from 74 per cent last year, to 88 per cent - almost everyone - in 2012.

There's no change, however, when it comes to the top individual apps, which are Facebook, YouTube, Android Market, Google Search, and Gmail. Smartphone owners still spend around the same amount of time using apps per day, 39 minutes in 2012 (as opposed to 37 minutes last year).